Editing General Educational Development (section)

==Effects on employability==
The GED certification itself (i.e., without further post-secondary education or training) does not help people get jobs as much as a high school diploma does.<ref name=CH93>{{cite journal |author=Cameron, Stephen V and James J. Heckman |s2cid=154901876 |title=The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents |journal=Journal of Labor Economics |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=1–47 |year=1993|doi=10.1086/298316 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w3804.pdf }}</ref> People who have earned the GED credential tend to earn more than dropouts and less than high school graduates. Economist [[James Heckman]] found in a 1993 study that this is primarily due to differences in the characteristics and backgrounds of GED test graduates. When controlling for other influences, he finds no evidence that, for the average taker, the GED test credential improves an individual's economic opportunities above those for other dropouts.<ref name="CH93"/>

However, there is a [[Badge of shame|stigma]] for GED certification holders that affects their employability or pursuit of higher education.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chandler|first1=Michael Alison|title=Should GED lead to a diploma? District considers changing policy to help outcomes|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/should-ged-lead-to-a-diploma-district-considers-changing-policy-to-help-outcomes/2015/01/31/d339167c-a7d2-11e4-a06b-9df2002b86a0_story.html|access-date=16 January 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=31 January 2015|quote=...Advocates say that offering the students a diploma, as Maryland and 12 other states do, would wipe clean a stigma that makes it harder for GED graduates to get a job or pursue higher education.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Chen|first1=Michelle|title=The GED Is Getting Tougher for Students Who Need it Most|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/ged-getting-tougher-students-who-need-it-most/|access-date=16 January 2018|work=[[The Nation]]|date=5 May 2014|quote=The GED carries a stigma of mediocrity and may put people at a disadvantage when competing for jobs against full-fledged high school graduates.|archive-date=17 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117070645/https://www.thenation.com/article/ged-getting-tougher-students-who-need-it-most/|url-status=dead}}</ref>